Tooth brush holder



March 10, 1964 B. SETA TOOTH BRUSH HOLDER 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Jan. 4, 1962 L7 INVENTOR BRUNO SETA By 1mm w M ATTORNEY? v B. SETA TOOTH BRUSH HOLDER March 10, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 4, 1962 III I6 INVENTOR BRUNO SETA By M Mal W ATTORNEYS United States Patent 3,124,399 TOGTH BRUSH HOLDER Bruno Seta, 20/10 Via Carlo Canepa, Genoa, Italy Filed Jan. 4, 1962, Ser. No. 164,365 Claims priority, application Italy Jan. 9, 1961 8 Claims. (Cl. 312206) This invention relates to tooth brush holders and aims to provide a tooth brush holder comprising an outer sheath and a tooth brush container hinged thereto, which may be swung into and out of said sheath, in two fixed positions; the first position in which the tooth brush is completely enclosed and the second in which the tooth brush is exposed ready for being taken out and used.

Another object of the invention is to provide a tooth brush holder of the kind above referred to, which is adapted for home and traveling use, and comprises a sheath open at its front end and adapted to hold a quiverlike tooth brush container which is provided with means for detachably attaching same either directly or indirectly to the said sheath and to assume with respect thereto either a rearward or closed position or a forwardly inclined or open position.

According to an embodiment of the invention, the tooth brush container is also provided with a hood-like cap which may be either detachable and adapted to be hinged to the said container when this is dismounted from its sheath and should be used as traveling tooth bru sh holder, or may be sturdily hinged to said container,

in'which latter case the said cap may be detachably fastened to said sheath and serve as hinged supporting member for said container.

When the said cap is detachably mounted on said container, this is hinged directly to the sheath, preferably by means of pivot means lying below the container barycenter and according to a preferred embodiment of the invention, the sheath may also function as cap-holding means, when the holder is used With the container hinged to the sheath.

Further characteristic features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 shows in perspective view a first embodiment of a tooth brush holder according to the invention in closed position, in opened position and with the brush container dismounted from the sheath of said holder;

FIGURES 2 and 3 show a vertical section through the same tooth brush holder, in closed and opened positions, respectively;

FIGURE 4 is a vertical section through the brush container dismounted from its sheath and provided with a hinged cap;

FIGURES 5 and 6 are cross sections in enlarged scale through the brush container, said sections being taken on lines VV and VIVI of FIGURES 4 and 2, respectively;

FIGURE 7 is a vertical section through a second embodiment of brush holder wherein the container cap is detachably retained within the sheath;

FIGURE 8 is a vertical section through the brush container and cap shown in FIGURE 7, both container and cap being removed from the sheath shown in FIGURE 7, the cap having been hinged to said container;

FIGURE 9 shows in enlarged scale a cross section on line IXIX of FIGURE 8;

FIGURES 10, 11 and 12 are cross sections in enlarged scale, on lines X-X, XI-XI and XIIXII of FIGURES 7 and 8 respectively;

FIGURE 13 shows in vertical section a third embodiment of a brush holder according to the invention, wherein the container cap may be detachably fastened to the sheath, in which case it forms the supporting member for the container;

FIGURE 14 shows in vertical section the capped brush holder shown in FIGURE 13, removed from its supporting sheath and FIGURES 15 and 16 show in enlarged scale two cross sections on lines XV-XV and XVI-XVI of FIGURES 14 and 13, respectively.

In the embodiment as shown in FIGURES 1 through 6, the tooth brush holder comprises a sheath 1 open at its front and lower end and closed at its top, adapted to be hung or fastened vertically to a wall or the like by means of a nail or screw inserted through holes 2 provided in the rear sheath wall. The sheath has at its bottom end a pair of projecting lugs 5 provided with upwardly and forwardly inclined grooves 6 open at their tops and closed at their bottom ends.

In these grooves 6 a pair of pins 7 projecting from a lower part of the sides of a quiver-shaped container may be inserted.

As clearly shown, a part of the rear wall and of the side walls of said container are cut away by a slant cut so as to provide a rearwardly open top end for easily inserting and taking away a tooth brush 4, FIGURE 1.

As shown in FIGURES 1 and 2, due to the position of these pins '7 below the center of gravity, the container, when it is hinged to the sheath, is unbalanced and will tend always to assume either a fully closed position (which is determined by the co action of the abutment wall 101, FIGS. 2 and 3 with the rear container wall) or a fully opened position in which, due to the inclination of the container the provision of an inclined abutment member 201 provided Within the sheath 1 (see FIG. 2) and co-acting with the rear wall of the container 3, is greater than that of the grooves 6, so that the tooth brush may be easily taken out of said container without risk of pulling the container pivot pins 7 out of their hinge grooves 6. However, the container may be removed, when desired, by grasping the open container 3 and lifting same in the direction of said grooves 6 (third view in FIGURE 1).

As clearly shown, a part of the rear wall and of the side Wall of said container are cut away so as to provide a rearwardly open top end for easily inserting and taking away a tooth bnush 4, FIG. 1.

The container 3 taken away from the sheath 1 may be also provided with hinged hood-like cap 8 and employed as traveling brush holder. The cap 8 may be hinged to the sheath for example by providing in suitable position of the side cap walls a pair of projections 9 which may be snapped into corresponding cavities 10 of the container 3. As usually all the pants of the tooth brush holder may be made of somewhat resilient plastic material, the snapping of the projections 9 into the cavities 10 is rendered easy by slightly in-pressing the sides of the container 3- while sliding thereon the cap 8.

In the embodiment as shown in FIGURES 7 through 12, the cap 8 is provided in correspondence of the lower ends 10- of its side walls with a pair of co-ax-ial holes 12 which may snap upon corresponding ball projections 13 provided upon slightly in-pressed surfaces 14 of the side walls of the container 3 and thus provide a hinging of said cap, as cleanly shown in FIGURES 8 and 10. The surfaces 14 are provided with rounded upstanding borders 15 forming abutment and guide members for the lower edges 108 of the cap 8.

The cap '8 may be maintained in closed position by providing a pair of side links 16 provided at their ends with ball projections 17 and extending out of the side walls of the cap towards the corresponding container side Walls, which may be provided with a pair of holes or 3 cavities 117 in which the ball projections 17 may snap, thus holding firmly the lid in closed position (see FIG. 9).

Usually, in this latter embodiment when the container 3 is hinged to the sheath, the cap 8 is housed within the sheath 1 which is wide enough as to permit of snugly housing therein the said cap 8, Without interfering with the normal use of the tooth brush container. To this end, the sheath 1 is provided in a suitable position with a pair of projections 107 which may snap into said holes 12 provided in the cap edges 1%, as shown in FIGURES 7 and 12. The cap 238, Which is elastically yielding, is further provided with a notch 19 and with a finger grip 20 while the top wall of the sheath is provided with a tooth 18 which may snap into said cap notch 19, while the finger grip 20 slightly projects through a slit provided at the top of the sheath 1. Thus the cap 8, when housed within the sheath 1, is firmly held by the tooth 18, FIG. 7, and the projection 167, FIG. 12, snapped into the hole 12 and may be easily removed by rocking same outwardly by means of the grip 20, while when taken out of the sheath 1, may be easily higned to the container 3 by causing the cap projections 13 to snap into the sheath holes 12.

In the embodiment as shown in FIGURES 13 through 16, the tooth brush container 3 has a frusto trapezoidal shape and is provided at the top of its front wall with rneans for hooking thereto the hock-shaped end 24 of the elastically yielding top wall 2% of the cap 8 which is hinged in a lower position, as at 22, of the said container 3. The elasticity of the wall 268 is obtained by slitting the cap as at 23. In this embodiment, the sheath 26 is in form of a tapering U section channel (see FIG- URE 16) provided with inturned retaining edges 126 and with a spaced rear wall by means of which the sheath may be hung to a Wall. In this U-sheath the lower part of the cap 8 is inserted in such a manner that it is firmly retained therein by the front cap edges abutting against the inturn'ed edges 126 of the holder 26. If necessary, a further abutment member 103, FIG. 13, may be provided rforholding said container 3 by abutting against the iop edge of thechannel-shaped part of the sheath 26. Thus, in this embodiment the cap 8 forms the supporting member of the container 3 which maybe swung fonwards as shown by dash lines in FIGURE 13 after having unhooked the top of its front wall from the cap hook 24. The container 3 andcapfl8 may serve as traveling .tooth brush holder by simply taking same off the sheath The container 3-, in all the thus described embodiments, may be provided with bottom perforation 11 for aeration and liquid dripping.

Iclaim:

1. A tooth brush holder adapted for traveling service and comprising a quiver-likeopen top tooth brush container, a sheath open at the front and bottom separably receiving said container, said sheath having a rear wall, two side walls and a top wall, means on said rear wall for fixedly securing said sheath to a building wall, a pair of coaxially projecting hinge pivots fixed in the lower part of said container and lying below the barycenter of said container, a pair of forwardly inclined parallelspaced open top slots inthe lower portions of the side walls and spaced from the rear Wall of said sheath for removably inserting therein the said hinge pivots carried by the container, and coacting abutment members on said sheath and container allowing the said container when pivoted in the slots of the sheath to swing a certain angle .in both directions beyond the vertical plane passing through the said hinge pivot axis, for holding said container either fully capped by the top part of said sheath in one end position or inclined outwardly.

2. A tooth brush holder adapted for traveling service :and comprising a quiver-like open top tooth brush container, a sheath having side, rear and top walls and open at the front and bottom to receive said container, means for fixedly securing said sheath to a wall surface, a pair of coaxial pivots projecting laterally from said container at a level below its barycenter, a pair of slots opening to the front of the sheath and positioned in the lower portions of said side walls spaced forwardly of said rear wall and removably receiving the said pivots, said container when received in the sheath being .swingable about said pivots forwardly and rearwardly of a vertical plane, and coacting abutment members on said sheath and container limiting swinging movement of said container in both directions to hold the container either fully closed and capped by the top wall of said sheath in one position or inclined forwardly and open for removal of a brush in a secondposition.

3. A tooth brush holder according to claim 2 further comprising a detachable cap for said container, the said cap having a hood form and being provided with elastically yielding side walls, coacting means on said hood-shaped cap side walls and within the side Walls of said sheath detachably retaining the said cap within the top part of said sheath, coacting means within the said hood-shaped cap side wallsand upon the side walls of said container detachably hinging said cap to said container, coacting means on said container cap and on said container for yieldingly holding said cap in closed position and gripping means on said cap for snapping said cap to either open or closed position.

4. A tooth brush holder adapted for traveling service and comprising a quiver like open top tooth brush container, a closed top sheath removably receiving said container and having a top,a rear and two side walls, means for fixedly securing said sheath to a Wall surface, a pair of coaxial pivots fixed to and projecting laterally from said container at a levelbelow its barycenter, a pair of slots positioned in thelower portion of the side walls of said sheath spaced forwardly of therear wall and opening forwardly-to removably receive the said pivots, said container when received in the sheath being swingable about said pivots forwardly and rearwardly of a vertical plane, and coactingabutment members on said sheath and container limiting swinging movement of said container in both directions to hold the container either fully closed and capped by the top wall of said sheath in one position or inclined forwardly and open for removal of a brush in a second position.

5. A tooth brush holder adapted for traveling service and comprising a quiver-like open top tooth brush container, a sheath for receiving said container and having side, rear and top Wallsand open at front and bottom, means for fixedly securing said sheath rear wall to a building wall surface, cooperating means on said sheath and container permitting the container to swing from a first position slightly rearwardly of the vertical to a second and forwardly tilted position permitting access to a tooth brush within the open top of the container, said cooperating means also permitting separation of the container from the sheath, a detachable cap for said container having a hood form and being provided with elastically yieldable side Walls including means for detachably securing said cap to said container, and said cooperating means on said sheath and container including means for removably retaining the capbetween the side walls of said sheath when the cap and container are held in the sheath in said first position.

6. A tooth brush holder adapted for traveling service comprising a quiver-like, open top container in combination with a tooth brush removably housed in said container, said container including a sheath having side, rear and top walls and open at the front and bottom to receive said container, means for fixedly securing said sheath to a wall surface, a pair of coaxial pivots projecting laterally from said container at a level below its barycenter, a pair of slots in the side walls of said sheath removably receiving the said pivots, said container when received in the sheath being swingable about said pivots forwardly and rearwardly of a vertical plane, and coacting abutment members on said sheath and container limiting swinging movement of said container in both directions to hold the container either fully closed and capped by the top wall of said sheath in one position or inclined forwardly and open for removal of said tooth brush in a second position.

7. A tooth brush holder in combination with a tooth brush according to claim 6 further comprising a detachable cap for said container, the said cap having a hood form and being provided with elastically yielding side walls, coacting means on said hood-shaped cap side walls and Within the side Walls of said sheath detachably retaining the said cap within the top part of said sheath, coacting means Within the said hood-shaped cap side walls and upon the side Walls of said container detachably hinging said cap to said container, coacting means on said container cap and on said container for yieldingly holding said cap in closed position and gripping means on said cap for snapping said cap to either open or closed position.

8. A tooth brush holder adapted for traveling service and comprising a quiver-like, open top container in combination with a tooth brush removably housed in said container, said container including a sheath for receiving said container and having side and rear Walls and open at front and bottom, means for fixedly securing said sheath to a Wall surface, cooperating means on said sheath and container permitting the container to swing from a first position slightly rearwardly of the vertical to a second and forwardly tilted position permitting access to said tooth brush within the open top of the container, a detachable cap for said container having a hood form and being provided with elastically yieldable side walls including means for detachably securing said cap to said container, and said cooperating means on said sheath and container including means for removably retaining the cap between the side walls of said sheath when the cap and container are held in the sheath in said first position.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Kleinberg Dec. 11, 1945 Carrillo Mar. 30, 1954 

1. A TOOTH BRUSH HOLDER ADAPTED FOR TRAVELING SERVICE AND COMPRISING A QUIVER-LIKE OPEN TOP TOOTH BRUSH CONTAINER, A SHEATH OPEN AT THE FRONT AND BOTTOM SEPARABLY RECEIVING SAID CONTAINER, SAID SHEATH HAVING A REAR WALL, TWO SIDE WALLS AND A TOP WALL, MEANS ON SAID REAR WALL FOR FIXEDLY SECURING SAID SHEATH TO A BUILDING WALL, A PAIR OF COAXIALLY PROJECTING HINGE PIVOTS FIXED IN THE LOWER PART OF SAID CONTAINER AND LYING BELOW THE BARYCENTER OF SAID CONTAINER, A PAIR OF FORWARDLY INCLINED PARALLELSPACED OPEN TOP SLOTS IN THE LOWER PORTIONS OF THE SIDE WALLS AND SPACED FROM THE REAR WALL OF SAID SHEATH FOR REMOVABLY INSERTING THEREIN THE SAID HINGE PIVOTS CARRIED BY THE CONTAINER, AND COACTING ABUTMENT MEMBERS ON SAID SHEATH AND CONTAINER ALLOWING THE SAID CONTAINER WHEN PIVOTED IN THE SLOTS OF THE SHEATH TO SWING A CERTAIN ANGLE 